Days later, El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination, giving the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) its first successful national political endorsement. The AAUP announced July 30 that it was making its “first-ever national political endorsement,” praising El-Sayed as a champion of tuition-free higher education and academic freedom while encouraging members to support his campaign. The group stated that it was reversing course to endorse Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed won his primary challenge in the Michigan Senate race with 48.5% of the vote at the time the race was called. In the Ann Arbor precinct where the University of Michigan campus sits, El-Sayed won 100% of the total votes cast.